In the Financial District, Wall Streeters have developed an appetite not only for McDonald's hamburgers, they're gobbling up its stock, as well. McDonald’s net income increased a whopping 80 percent from 2007 to 2008--and its shares rose 11.22 percent from January 2008 to January 2009, while the rest of the market tanked. "You hear all the news going on [about the economy], and you want to save money. This is good value," said lunchgoer Mark Drapala, 29, a sales-account exec who works near Astor Place.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01282009/news/regionalnews/unhappy_meal_152342.htm

An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract. "These results could have implications for the incorporation of agents such as grape seed extract into prevention or treatment of hematological malignancies and possibly other cancers," said the study's lead author, Xianglin Shi, Ph.D., professor in the Graduate Center for Toxicology at the University of Kentucky. "What everyone seeks is an agent that has an effect on cancer cells but leaves normal cells alone, and this shows that grape seed extract fits into this category," he said. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134016.php

The New Quebec Crater (previously known as Chubb Crater), now known as Pingualuit Crater (which means "where the land rises" in the local Inuit language), is a young meteorite crater, by geological standards, located in the Ungava Peninsula of Quebec, Canada. It is 3.44 km (2.14 mi) in diameter, and is estimated to be 1.4 ± 0.1 million years old (Pleistocene). The crater is exposed to the surface, rising 160 m (520 ft) above the surrounding tundra and is 400 m (1,300 ft) deep. A 270 m (890 ft) deep Pingualuk Lake fills the depression, and is one of the deepest lakes in North America. The lake also holds some of the purest fresh water in the world, with a salinity level of less than 3 ppm (the salinity level of the Great Lakes is 500 ppm). The lake has no inlets or apparent outlets, so the water accumulates solely from rain and snow and is only lost through evaporation. In terms of transparency, it is second only to Lake Masyuko in Japan. The lake-filled crater had long been known to local Inuit who knew it as the "Crystal Eye of Nunavik" for its clear water. World War II pilots often used the perfectly circular landmark as a navigational tool. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingualuit_crater

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The Circus Maximus was founded by King Tarquinius Priscus in the 7th Century BC. Its size was increased under successive rulers but at its greatest it measured some 2000 feet in length and 450 feet in width (650m x 125m). This made it fit snugly into the marshy Murcia valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills which king Tarquinius had specially drained for the job. The shape of the whole building was like a stretched oval with a flat end called the "officium" which contained the starting blocks called "carceres" from which the chariots would enter the track when metal barriers were lifted. (Carcere in Italian now means prison).
The seats around the track were initially made of wood up the valley sides but these were subsequently replaced with stone seating. The Circus Maximus was rebuilt by Caesar and the seating was increased to 150,000. It was then covered in marble by Trajan in the first century AD and the seating increased to the full 250,000. As in the Colosseum, the track was called the "arena" on account of the sand it was covered with. At the time of the Republic there was an average of about 17 days of "ludi" (circus games) a year, each of which included 10 or 12 actual races. Each race was called a "missus" (meaning to "launch" or "disperse"). Several hundred years later there might be as many as two months worth of races (60 days) lasting from sunrise to sunset. The general average was to hold 24 or 25 races in a day each made up of four contestants. The last races of Rome were held almost a hundred years after the fall of the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus. After more than 1100 years of racing tradition an end was put to them during the reign of the invading barbarian chieftain Totila in the 6th century.
http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/circus_maximus.htm

The Latin word circus, which comes from the Greek word kirkos, "circle, ring," referred to a circular or oval area enclosed by rows of seats for spectators. In the center ring a variety of events, including chariot races and gladiatorial combats, were held. The first use of circus recorded in English, in a work by Chaucer written around 1380, probably refers to the Circus Maximus in Rome. Our modern circus, which dates to the end of the 18th century, was originally an equestrian spectacle as well, but the trick riders were soon joined in the ring by such performers as ropedancers, acrobats, and jugglers. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Circus

When is a square not a four-sided figure having equal-length sides meeting at right angles? When it is an open area for public use such as St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Mark’s in Venice. See many definitions, including mathematical ones at:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:square&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

Google Ocean, which will be included in the newest version of Google Earth, will allow users to swim around underwater volcanoes, watch videos about exotic marine life, read about nearby shipwrecks, contribute photos and watch unseen footage of historic ocean expeditions. The world's oceans cover more than 70 per cent of the planet's surface and contain 80 per cent of all life on Earth, yet humans have only ever explored around 5 per cent of that space.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/google/4434916/Google-Ocean-launched-as-extension-of-Google-Earth-to-map-the-seabed.html

On February 3, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing all male citizens the right to vote regardless of their race. In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified, which imposed a federal income tax.
February 3 is the birthday of the epic novelist James A. Michener, (books by this author) born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania (1907), the author of Tales of the South Pacific. He said, "I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter."
February 3 is "the day the music died," the day in 1959 when Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, along with Ritchie Valens (who sang "La Bamba") and J.P. Richardson (known as "The Big Bopper"). Buddy Holly's career as a rock star only lasted a year and a half, but he recorded "Peggy Sue," "Everyday," "That'll Be the Day," "Oh, Boy!" and many more hits. The Writer’s Almanac